Manufacture of composition board.



3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented Spt. 26, 1916 J. FERLA.

MANUFACTURE OF COMPOSITION BOARD. APPLICATION FILED JULY 15, 1912. RENEWED DEC. 19.1914.

IIVVE/VTOR ATTORNEY WITNESSES:

J. FERLA.

MANUFACTURE OF COMPOSITION BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15. 1912.

RENEWED DEC. 19,1914.

Patented Sept. 26, 1916.

3 SHEETSS HEET 2.

M j M I A TTOR/VEY J. FEBLAL MANUFACTURE OF COMPOSITION BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15' I912. RENEWED DEC. 19,1914.

1,1 99,682. Patented Sept; 26, 10m.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY WOOD MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF YORK.

MANUFACTURE OF COMPOSITION BOARD. I

Application filed July 15,1912, Serial No. 709,437. Renewed December 19, 1914. Serial No. 878,184.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHANN FERLA, a citizen of Switzerland, and aresident of Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Mannfacture of Composition Board, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to. the manufacture of composition board from plastic material.

The principal; object of this invention is to devise a process whereby the plastic mathereon The sheets of material on the plates are then piled on top of one another and compressed in a hydraulic press. 'By reason of the coating of oil on the sheets and plates, the latter will be easily separable from each other after being removed from the press.

Further objects and advantages of my process will hereinafter appear.

I have illustrated a preferred form of apparatus for carrying, out my improved process, which apparatus is claimedspecifically in my co-pending ap lication Serial Number 709,438, but it will be understoodthat any other suitable apparatus may be used provided the steps of my process as defined in the claims are carried out.

In the drawings, Figures 1, 1 and 1 are continuations of each other and illustrate a sectional elevation of the apparatus. Figs.

2, 2 and2 respectively are plan views ofproportions and given the proper amount of consistency before it is introduced into the apparatus. The material is treated in a comparatively dry state containing considerably less moisture'than the material handled in theapparatns disclosed in my prior Patent No. 940,449 granted November 16th, 4909. The material after being so mixed and treated, is fed in hopper 1 inany suitable manner. Communicating with this hopper is a cylindrical chamber 2 in which are mounted a pair of rolls 3 which are rotated in the direction to feed the material downward from the hopper 1. Rolls 3 may be adjusted relatively to each other by any desired adjusting means as 4. A shaft 5, driven through suitable gearing from the shaft 6, connected to any available source of specificatio 13 Letters .Patent. ?a,tnted Sept. 2%,

power, extends past.the rolls 3 which are ward as it is deposited thereon by the rolls 3. Mounted below the screw conveyer are a vpair of steel rolls 9 adjustable to and from each other by any desired adjusting means 10. These rollsroughly gage the thickness of the sheet "of material which ultimately forms the composition board. The material thus fed out from the conveyer is comparativelyary but still has more moisture than is desirable for purposes ofthe final compression thereof and drying. In order to remove this surplus moisture, the sheet of material after passing from the rolls 9 is deposited upon an endless belt 11 formed of canvas or like absorbent material and is fed through a pair of steel rolls 12 and 13, by means of which rolls the sheet is slightly compressed thus expressing the moisture therefrom which is absorbed by the absorb ent material of the belt, and also gaging the thickness of the sheet. It is found that the material when thus handled, while it is in a comparatively dry state, is very sticky and is liable to adhere to the surface of the presser rolls. To avoid this sticking of the material and also to increase the efliciency of the moisture extracting operation, the

sheet after passing rolls 13, is passed between rolls 14, the upper of which has an endless belt 14 of a more absorbent material than canvas such as felt passing then-cover.

From this point on, the material is not confrom both from below and above and also effectually prevent any of the material sticking to the rollers. driven by its end rolls 15 and 15 which are connected to any suitable source of power as a shaft 15 running the length of the machine and geared to these rolls by any suitable gearing.

The material after passing roll 15 is fed along past the bridging plate 16 on to the endless belt 17 driven by the roll 18. This belt may be also of felt or like absorbent material, and together with the felt belt 14*, it removesthe anoisture from the material so far as it is possible to do so by the appli* cation of the absorbent material thereon. Rolls 14 already referred to and rolls 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 which are spaced along the line of travel of the sheet between the belts, are adjustable toward and from each other and serve to com ress the material between the absorbent be ts to express the moisture therefrom.-

After passing out from underthe belt 14*,

the sheet is carried along by the belt 17 past the steel rolls 24 and 25 which gage the material to its final thickness before the hydraulic compression, and then the sheet is cut into the proper lengths by means of a knife 26, after which the individual lengths are conveyed to be piled one on top of the other and be subjected to the final compression by means of a hydraulic press. In order to prevent the adhesion of the sheets to each other when thus subjected to the final compression, I provide mechanism whereby the individual sheets as they are fed out are placed upon spacing plates from which they can be readily detached. This detachment is further assured by means of acoat of oil or like non-adhesive fluid with which I coat the sheets and plates before they are placed over each other. The coating of oil is applied on the top of the sheets by the gage rolls 24 and 25, which coating also prevents the sticking of the material to the rolls. The mechanism for performing these functions, is as follows: Mounted above the rolls 24 and 25 are oil reservoirs 27 and 28 having valves or pet-cocks 29 extending downwardly therefrom and supplying a regulatable amount of oil ,on the top of the rolls 24 and 25. Felt rolls or wipers 30 are mounted rearwardly of rolls 24 and 25 and spread the oil-evenly upon the surface of the rolls. The sheet ofmaterial thus receives an even coating of oil on its upper surface as it passes between rolls 24 and 25. After the sheet passes off from the belt 17, it is deposited upon a steel plate 31 upon which it is The canvas belt is ,and the rolls 24fand 25, etc.

mes es compressed in the hydraulic press. These plates 31 are made of thin, flexible metal such as thin sheet'steel and are conveyed to the conveying table in alinement with the sheets of material as follows: Extending upward preferably from a lower floor is an inclined conveyer 32 having a pair of endless chains 32 driven by sprocket wheels 33 from a convenient source of power as from the shaft 15 which drives the conveyer belts Adjacent to the bottom end of the inclined conveyer 32 is a table or platform 34 having mounted thereon a pair of feed rolls 34 between which the plates 31 are placed and ,whence they are fed to the inclined conveyer 32 and are engaged by the hooks 35 formed on the chains 32 and conveyed to the table 36 forming a continuation of the table on which the sheets of material are carried. The oil reservoir 37 is provided adjacent to the point of entrance of the plates between'the rollsl catch the surplus of oil running off from the rolls and plates. Brushes 39 clean the plates below and above as they pass to the chains 32*. Any desired means may be employed for placing the plates on the chains '50 as to cause the hooks to engage the bottom of the plates. If desired, this may be done manually by the attendant who feeds the plates torolls 34. When the plates reach the table 36 they run into guides 40 formed below the guides for the sheets of material. The pressure exerted by the hooks 35 in feeding the plates upward will cause the latter to bend around so as to follow the horizontal path of the'guides while their lower ends are engaged by the hooks 35. The plate in thus passing under the material and being fed simultaneously therewith at the same speed receives any desired length of material thereon which is determined by the operator. When a sufficient amount of material has passed upon a plate, the operator turns the knife so as to cut the requisite length which passes off on the plate conveyed by the chain 32 Rotary knives 41 mounted on the shaft 42 driven from any suitable source of power as from the roll 25,

trim the material at its edges for the purpose of determining the proper width thereof. After the plate with the -sheet'o,f material thereon travels off from the chains 32*, it

.is guided down an inclined run-way 43 havrun'way any suitable hoisting device as a differential pulley 47 attached to-a suitable support 48.

43 is adjustable up and down by- 7 Referring to Fig. 3 which illustrates the" manner in which the material is guided between the rolls, the belt 11 extends the full length of roll 12 under the guide 49 which runs the full length of the table. This guide 49 is placed at each end of the upper rolls which they snugly contact. The lower edge of these guides is formed with a facing 50 of leather, rubber or some such comparatively soft material for contacting with the belt and minimizing wear thereon. The material is thus confined between the guides, facing and belt and does not spread when compressed by the rolls for the purpose of expressing the moisture therefrom.

To prevent any accumulation of material upon the rolls, I provide a knife 52 for each of the steel rolls upon the forward side thereof and place at the proper angle to scrape any material which may adhere thereto. At the rear side "of rolls 20, 21 and 23 are mounted troughs 53 having an edge bearing against the side. of the roll to scrape away any particles of material adhering thereto. In these troughs are mounted conveyers 54 of any suitable type to carry the material scraped away to any suitable point for discharge. ofi any fine material which may percolate through the belt and adhere to the rolls.

Any suitable means may be used for cleaning the belts and extracting the moisture therefrom after passing rearwardly'or' upwardly from the table on the return path. The canvas belt 11 may be washed by a stream of water played thereon by a nozzle 55 and the particles of material which may adhere thereto after the belt passes this nozzle will be finally removed by agitating the belt by means of an'agitator 56 mounted at any suitable point below this nozzle. The belt 17 also has adjacent its run below the table, a. nozzle 57 and an agitator 58 operating in spending parts for belt 11. After belt 17 travels past the nozzle and agitator, it passes through a pair of rolls 59, the upper of which is held yieldingly downward by means of aweight 60 on a lever 61 upon which this upper roll is mounted.- A compression of the belt between these two rolls extracts the moisture therefroman'd renders it comparatively dry and adapted to again extract moisture from the material which is to contact. The belt 14 also has a similar washing and moisture extracting apparatus which is mounted on a pan 62 having a pair of drains 63 for conducting away the cleansing li uid and also the moisture extracted he belt after being cleaned. This belt also has additional moisture expressing means consisting of two rolls 59 engaging the belt above and below and held yieldinglytoward each other to express the belt by means of'a weight mounted on a lever upon These troughs thus scrape the same manner as the corre--" &

which the upper roll is journaled. A pan an adjusting roll 66, while the belt 17 has adjusting roll 67 and alining roll- 68 similar to belt 11;

When it is desired to corrugate or emboss the material with somedesign, a suitable embossing roll is substituted for the upper roll 25 which impresses its design upon the material previous to its being cut oil" by the knife 11. In this case the material is not compressed in-the-hydraulic press.

Therotary knife for cutting the sheet of material into the desired lengths is operated by a hand wheel 69 and has means for adjustment thereof relatively to the'plate 70. The knife is mounted in a yoke 71 to which the knife is clamped by means of a bolt 72. The latter extends through a slot 73 in the knife blade, which slot allows for the adjustment of the blade upwardly or downwardly when the blade is loosened so as to unclamp the same from the yoke. The late is supported at its ends by means 0 two The belts 11 and 17 are supported at the table in any desired manner as by means of" a plurality of small rolls 75. The moisture or water extracted from the material and also the water used in cleaning the belts may be conveniently drained by means of an inclined channel or gutter 76 running the length of the conveyer table and directly below the same and a drain pipe 77 may be formed at the lowest portion of the incline." i

v Any desired means may be used for adjusting the rolls for the purpose of gaging the sheet and also applying pressure thereon for expressing the moisture.- I provide ,an adjustable bearing for each top roll which is moved up and down by a screw operated by a hand wheel 78. The two wheels for the bearings may be connected so as to rotate together by means of a sprocket chain 79 or any other suitable motion transmitting means.

. Having thus described my invention, I claim as new:

1. A process of manufacturing composition board consisting in roughly gaging a sheet of plastic material and depositing it upon a conveyer, further gaging the sheet and absorbing the moisture therefrom both from above and from below simultaneously coating the sheet with a film of non-adhesive fluid, cutting the sheet into-the required lengths and piling the lengths one on top of another and subjecting them to pressure to express any moisture remaining therein.

2. A process of manufacturing composiiion board consisting inroughly gaging a sheet of plastic material and depositing it upon a conveyer, further gaging the sheet and absorbing the moisture therefrom both from above and from below simultaneously, coating the sheet with a film of non-adhesive fluid, cutting the sheet into the required lengths and depositing the lengths upon spacing plates, then piling the lengths one on top. of another with the spacing plates therebetween, and subjecting the pile to pressure to express the moisture remaining in the sheets.

3. A process of manufacturing composition board consisting in roughly gaging a sheet of plastic material and depositing it upon a conveyer, further gaging the sheet and compressin it so as to express the moisture there rom and absorbing said moisture both from above and from below, applying a coating of oil to the top of the sheet, applying a coating of oil to a spacing plate, depositing the sheet upon the spacing plate and cutting it off,- piling the portions of the sheet one on top of another with the spacing plates therebetween, and subjecting the pile to pressure to express the moisture remaining in the ortions.

a. The process of manufacturing composition board consisting in mixing a plastic mass to a consistency at which it may be rolled into a sheet, roughly gaging the sheet and depositing it upon a conveyer, rolling the sheet between absorbent bands, applying a film of oil to the sheet, cutting the sheet into the required lengths, and compressing the same to express the moisture remaining therein.

'5. A process of manufacturing compost tion board consisting in mixing a plastic mass to a consistency at which it may be rolled into a sheet, roughly gaging the 

